Mounting Assembly For a Paper Dispenser

ABSTRACT

A mounting assembly for mounting a roll of sheet material having a central cylindrical opening in a dispenser for dispensing sections of the sheet material. The dispenser ( 10 ) is one of a type having a housing with a main plate ( 27 ) and a cover ( 14 ). The mounting assembly comprises a bung ( 30 ) having a tubular body ( 35 ) with a plurality of outwardly projecting ribs ( 34 ) operative to tightly engage an interior cylindrical surface of the roll of sheet material. A short cylindrical portion ( 32 ) of the bung is frangibly connected to the tubular body. A bung receptacle ( 16 ) is mounted on one of the main plate and the cover for receiving and retaining the short tubular portion in sliding engagement. A conical roll engagement element ( 20, 22 ) is mounted on another of the main plate and the cover operative to slidably engage an end of the central cylindrical opening of the roll of sheet material opposite to an end into which the bung is inserted.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mounting assembly for a roll of sheetmaterial in a paper dispenser comprising a bung, which fits into an endof a roll of paper with a central cylindrical opening to adapt that endof the roll to fit over one of two round abutments of the paperdispenser. The bung cannot be easily removed from the end of the roll ofpaper and if any removal attempt is applied to the portion of the bungthat projects away from the roll of paper, a frangible connection to theportion of the bung buried in the end of the roll of paper is brokenoff, rendering the bung unusable.

BACKGROUND

Existing paper dispensers such as paper towel or toilet paper dispensersare often sensitive to the quality of paper being dispensed. Whendispenser manufacturers design a dispenser for a specified paper inorder to achieve maximum efficiency and performance of the dispenser,then obviously, that dispenser should be restricted to using only thespecified paper, unless another paper with similar physical propertiesis used. However, purchasers often buy “specials” on paper which do nothave similar physical properties to the specified paper and use it insubstitution for the specified paper, which is often slightly higher inprice.

Another issue relating to the control of the paper used in the dispenserhas to do with the fact that paper companies often sell dispensers andpaper as a system. Typically, the dispenser will be paid for andinstalled by the paper company in return for a guarantee that all of thepaper for the dispenser will be purchased from the paper company at apre-agreed price and for an agreed period of time. To ensure theguarantee is being complied with, the paper company must either enterinto the purchaser's premise and perform periodic audits, or take therisk that the agreement might be breached. As such, there is a need foran efficient and effective means for enforcement of the guarantee.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a mountingassembly for a dispenser, which will prevent the use of other thanspecified rolls of paper in the dispenser.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a mounting assembly formounting a roll of sheet material having a central cylindrical openingin a dispenser for dispensing sections of the roll of sheet material.The dispenser is one of a type having a housing with a main plate and acover. The mounting assembly comprises a bung having a tubular body witha plurality of outwardly projecting ribs operative to tightly engage aninterior cylindrical surface of the roll of sheet material. A shortcylindrical portion is frangibly connected to the tubular body. Thetubular body has a round interior and a diameter larger than the shortcylindrical portion.

A bung receptacle is mounted on one of the main plate and the cover forreceiving and retaining the short cylindrical portion in slidingengagement. A conical roll engagement element is mounted on another ofthe main plate and the cover operative to slidably engage an end of thecentral cylindrical opening of the roll of sheet material opposite tothe end into which the bung is inserted.

Preferably, a flange extends outwardly at an intersection of the shortcylindrical portion and the tubular body.

The ribs have a sharp elongated edge. Preferably, the ribs each have apoint directed towards the flange operative to resist withdrawal of thebung.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description, given by way of example, of a preferred embodimenttaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is front elevation view of a dispenser with the cover opened;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cover for the dispenser lid orcover;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the bung;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the bung of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bung inserted into an end of a rollof toilet tissue;

FIG. 6 is a top view of a bung receptacle mounted in the dispenser ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the bung receptacle of FIG. 6 taken alongthe line BB in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the bung receptacle of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

The dispenser 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, consists of a housing 12with two half-rounded regions, one on either side, a cover 14, a mainplate 27 and an associated bung receptacle 16 inserted in the main plate27 near each end thereof. A roll of toilet paper 18 is fitted with abung 30 (see FIGS. 3-5) and the bung 30 inserted into engagement withthe bung receptacle 16 (see FIGS. 1, and 6-8). The dispenser 10 holdstwo toilet paper rolls, one for immediate use and another for convenientstorage. As shown in FIG. 2, the cover 14 has two pin receiving holes 15and 21 on either side which mount onto respective ones of two pins 17and 19 on each end at the bottom of the dispenser 10 (see FIG. 1). Twoconical roll engagement elements 20 and 22 are affixed to the cover 14in a position such that, on closing the cover 14, each of elements 20and 22 hold a corresponding toilet paper roll 18 in position to roll anddispense the paper. When the cover 14 is closed, locking portions 24 and26 engage and interlock the cover 14 with the housing 12 of thedispenser 10.

The bung 30 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 consists of a short cylindricalportion 32, a flange 36 and a tubular body 35 to which are affixed sixequally spaced apart outwardly directed radially spaced apart ribs 34.Each rib 34 has an angled return, which forms a point 38 beforeterminating at the flange 36. Ribs 34 have a triangular cross sectionwith a sharp elongated edge as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 shows the bung 30inserted into a central cylindrical opening at an end of a roll oftoilet paper 18. The ribs 34 cut into the walls of the toilet paper core18 while the points 38 inhibit release or removal of the bung 30 fromthe cylindrical central opening thereof. Alternatively, the ribs couldbe spaced apart rings of saw tooth shaped teeth formed around thetubular body 35 combined with teeth directed parallel to the axis of thetubular body 35 or other suitable shapes. The short cylindrical portion32 has only a frangible connection to the tubular body 35.

The bung receptacle 16, shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, engages the bung 30, andhas a base plate 42, a cylindrical collar 46, and a partial cylindricalwall 48 spaced inwardly of the cylindrical collar 46. On a side oppositeto the legs 44 an upstanding post 50 projects outwardly from the baseplate 42 and has a terminal end with an outwardly directed bump 51,which extends over the cylindrical collar 46 against angled surface 41.Three legs 44 are equi-spaced radially around and are located at theperiphery of the base plate 42. Each leg 44 has an outwardly directedtab 52 parallel to the base plate 42.

Operationally, the three legs 44 are pressed into an opening in the mainplate 27 of the dispenser 10 until tabs 52 snap outwardly and engage themain plate 27 of the dispenser 10, holding the bung receptacle 16 firmlyin place. The short cylindrical portion 32 of the bung 30 fits betweenthe end of cylindrical collar 46 and the partial cylindrical wall 48with a bump 51 engaging a lip formed by the junction 40 of the ends ofinterior wall 37 and 39. Once in place, bung 30 is free to rotaterelative to bung receptacle 16 but is held engaged with bung receptacle16 by post 50 and bump 51 engaging angled surface 41. With bung 30engaging bung receptacle 16, closing cover 14 causes conical rollengagement elements 20 and 22 to each engage a cylindrical opening of acorresponding roll of toilet paper 18.

Any attempt to remove bung 30 by twisting the short cylindrical portion32 results in fracture of the frangible connection to tubular body 35and destruction of bung 30. The frangible connection is formed at thejunction 40 and is fractured easily as a result of a narrowing of theinterior wall 39 of the short cylindrical portion 32 to a 30-degreeangle 41. Obviously, other methods of creating the frangible connectionbetween the short cylindrical portion 32 and tubular body 35 could beused such as intermittent circumferentially elongated slots or openings.

Ordinarily, bung 30 cannot be easily removed from a depleted roll oftoilet paper 18 and re-used in a different roll of toilet paper 18.Thus, a new bung 30 is required for each new roll of toilet paper 18.This system effectively, prevents a dispenser user to install anon-specified roll of paper into the dispenser 10.

A bung receptacle 16 is mounted in each location where a roll isnormally mounted. It is obvious that the bung receptacle 16 could alsobe mounted in the cover 14 with the conical roll engagement elements 20and 22 being affixed to the main plate 27 of the housing 12. Obviously,the bung 30 and bung receptacle 16 are applicable not only to a toiletroll dispenser but to any film or sheet dispenser that has a centralcylindrical opening.

Accordingly, while this invention has been described with reference toillustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to beconstrued in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrativeembodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will beapparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to thisdescription. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims willcover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the truescope of the invention.

1. A mounting assembly for mounting a roll of sheet material having acentral cylindrical opening in a dispenser for dispensing sections ofsaid roll of sheet material, said dispenser being one of a type having ahousing with a main plate and a cover, comprising: (a) a bung having atubular body operative to tightly engage an interior of said centralcylindrical opening and to resist withdrawal from said centralcylindrical opening and a short cylindrical portion frangibly connectedto said tubular body; and (b) a receptacle mounted on one of said mainplate and said cover for receiving and retaining said short cylindricalportion in sliding engagement.
 2. A mounting assembly according to claim1, further comprising a roll engagement element mounted on another ofsaid main plate and said cover operative to slidably engage an end ofsaid central cylindrical opening opposite to an end into which said bungis inserted.
 3. A mounting assembly according to claim 1, wherein saidtubular body includes a plurality of outwardly directed projections. 4.A mounting assembly according to claim 1, wherein said plurality ofoutwardly directed projections extend parallel to an axis of saidtubular body.
 5. A mounting assembly according to claim 1, wherein saidbung further includes a flange extending outwardly at an intersection ofsaid short cylindrical portion and said tubular body.
 6. A mountingassembly according to claim 5, wherein said tubular body includes aplurality of outwardly directed projections.
 7. A mounting assemblyaccording to claim 6, wherein said plurality of outwardly directedprojections each have a point directed towards said flange operative toresist withdrawal of said bung.
 8. A mounting assembly according toclaim 3, wherein said plurality of outwardly directed projections have asharp elongated edge.
 9. A mounting assembly according to claim 1,wherein said tubular body has a round interior and a diameter largerthan said short cylindrical portion.
 10. A mounting assembly accordingto claim 1, wherein said roll engagement element is a conical elementinsertable into said central cylindrical opening.
 11. A dispenser ofsections of a roll of sheet material having a housing with a main plateand a cover, comprising: (a) a bung having a tubular body with aplurality of outwardly projecting ribs operative to tightly engage aninterior cylindrical surface of said roll of sheet material and a shortcylindrical portion frangibly connected to said tubular body; (b) areceptacle mounted on one of said main plate and said cover forreceiving and retaining said short cylindrical portion in slidingengagement; and (c) a roll engagement element mounted on another of saidbase plate and said cover operative to slidably engage an end of saidcentral cylindrical opening opposite to an end into which said bung isinserted.
 12. A mounting assembly according to claim 11, wherein saidbung further includes a flange extending outwardly at an intersection ofsaid short cylindrical portion and said tubular body.
 13. A mountingassembly according to claim 12, wherein said plurality of outwardlyprojecting ribs each have a point directed towards said flange operativeto resist withdrawal of said bung.
 14. A mounting assembly according toclaim 11, wherein said plurality of outwardly projecting ribs have asharp elongated edge extending parallel to said tubular body.
 15. Amounting assembly according to claim 11, wherein said tubular body has around interior and a diameter larger than said short cylindricalportion.
 16. A mounting assembly according to claim 11, wherein saidroll engagement element is a conical element insertable into saidcentral cylindrical opening.
 17. A method of dispensing sections of aroll of sheet material having a housing with a main plate and a cover,comprising: (a) providing a bung having a tubular body for insertioninto an end of said roll of sheet material and a short cylindricalportion frangibly connected to said tubular body; (b) inserting saidbung into an interior cylindrical surface of said roll of sheet materialto tightly engage said tubular body with said interior cylindricalsurface; (c) placing said short cylindrical portion in rotationalengagement with a receptacle mounted on one of said main plate and saidcover for receiving and retaining said short cylindrical portion inrotational engagement; and (d) placing an end of said centralcylindrical opening opposite to an end into which said bung is insertedinto rotational engagement with a roll engagement element mounted onanother of said base plate and said cover.
 18. A mounting assemblyaccording to claim 17, wherein said tubular body includes a plurality ofoutwardly directed projections.
 19. A mounting assembly according toclaim 17, wherein said plurality of outwardly directed projectionsextend parallel to an axis of said tubular body.
 20. A mounting assemblyaccording to claim 17, wherein said bung further includes a flangeextending outwardly at an intersection of said short cylindrical portionand said tubular body.
 21. A mounting assembly according to claim 20,wherein said tubular body includes a plurality of outwardly directedprojections.
 22. A mounting assembly according to claim 21, wherein saidplurality of outwardly directed projections each have a point directedtowards said flange operative to resist withdrawal of said bung.
 23. Amounting assembly according to claim 18, wherein said plurality ofoutwardly directed projections have a sharp elongated edge.
 24. Amounting assembly according to claim 17, wherein said tubular body has around interior and a diameter larger than said short cylindricalportion.
 25. A mounting assembly according to claim 17, wherein saidroll engagement element is a conical element insertable into saidcentral cylindrical opening.